GCCCD Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Discussion

This discussion assignment focuses on Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt as presidents. You are to read Chapters 10 and 11 in the text, read the lectures on Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and watch the videos on these presidents.

You are then to write a description of your presidency as becoming either Theodore Roosevelt OR Franklin Roosevelt.  You are going to show how Theodore Roosevelt created the modern office of the presidency through his domestic and foreign policy and Franklin Roosevelt created our modern system of government through his New Deal programs of relief, recovery and reform. 

Finally you are going to tell which of these two presidents would be rated higher in your opinion and why. And agree or disagree with TWO students with their opinions here.  Good luck on this fifth discussion assignment.

1 

Theodore Roosevelt was a self-made man in the purest form of the phrase. As a young child he suffered complications from asthma and poor vision. While glasses were able to correct his vision, exercise eliminated his asthma and built up his physique. He was always into nature, with his room often smelling of animals. After studying at Harvard and Columbia University, he joined the New York State legislature at the age of 23. Upon the death of his mother and wife on the same day, he retreated to the farmlands of the Dakota Territory, where he gained the respect of many ranchers and cowboys. He later reentered politics and became the New York City police commissioner, where he brought reform to the department. In 1897 he became assistant secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley. In 1898 he became the governor of New York and was able to bring about reform yet again. With his popularity he was elected Vice President in 1900 and came after closer to the highest political office, much to the fear of many conservative Republicans.

Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency came to fruition upon the assassination of President William McKinley. Under McKinley, the business empires that had made life difficult for many workers had continued to reign supreme. Theodore Roosevelt would begin a new era which would bring about social change and a new role for the Federal Government in business regulation. Theodore Roosevelt was a cornerstone of the progressive movement and quickly developed a reputation as a “trust buster.” Though Roosevelt was a Republican, he often based his policies on nonpartisan ideals and preferred to base policies on what he believed would be best for the American people. This meant that he was willing to work with opposition, rather than being beholden to his own political party. Unlike more extreme progressives, Roosevelt was not interested in completely getting rid of big businesses, but in making them function fairly. He sought to break up monopolies, going after business trusts through the courts. In fact, his first initiative involved attacking the power structure of the Northern Securities Company, a company created by some of the most powerful bankers in the US. Roosevelt enacted the “Square Deal,” a domestic program that highlighted three of Roosevelt’s most important goals: conservation of resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. His progressive philosophies were summed up in his quote “We are neither for the rich man nor the poor man as such, but for the upright man, rich or poor.”

I think that Theodore Roosevelt ranks slightly higher than Franklin Roosevelt. I look at it from the context that if Theodore Roosevelt had not laid the foundation for what a modern president does with their power, then later presidents would not have had the opportunity or ability to make further progress. Theodore Roosevelt marked the first major progressive shift in the American way of life and created the persona of the modern media president. He was able to create the modern policies that regulate business, he was able to create policies to preserve natural parks and monuments, and he was able to lay the groundwork for laws that would protect workers and prevent the working class from being treated the way the were under the empires of the business moguls of the 19th century.

2

I am Franklin Delano Roosevelt, people referred me as FDR. Growing up in New York, I am pretty satisfied my wealthy life until I was crippled by the polio disease. To my surprise, the polio disease I got changed my attitudes to life and raised my sympathy for the common people. As the cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, I was viewed as the raising star in polities. Even though I had to stay on a wheel chair, I never lost my sense of humor. By the way, I am also an amazing speaker. In the year 1932, I was selected as the 32rd president of United States. When I took over the office at that time, I was forced to solve a series of problems caused by the Great Depression.

In 1932, I proposed New Deal that consists of recovery, reform, and relief to solve the problems brought by the Great Depression. To begin with, I signed Tennessee Valley Authority Act on May 18, 1933. Tennessee Valley was severely affected by the Great Depression. As a response, I proposed that the government should help them to provide flood control, electricity generation, navigation, and economic development there. During that time, Tennessee Valley faced a lot of problems such as eroded lands, devastating floods, and a deficient economy. It turns out that the Act really saved that region, especially came from the electricity generated by the dam we built. It successfully made the farmers lives more convenient and farming easier. In addition, the electricity stimulated the development of various industries, and increased job offers. In 1933, the Congress enacted the National Industrial Recovery Act. It is an act to encourage the national industrial recovery from the Great Depression, to foster fair competition among competitors, and provide the construction for the general public. When it first established, NRA protected collective bargaining rights for union. However, it was declared unconstitutional by U.S. Supreme Court in 1934. It also considered being a complete failure by some people because they believe it promoted economically harmful monopolies. Because of the Great Depression, millions of people lost their jobs and it is desperate for me to fix the system to provide more job opportunities. As response, I proposed a lot of job problems such as the Works Progress Act. The famous “Federal One” was part of the WPA. It consists of five different divisions: the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theatre Project, the Federal Writers Project and the Historical Records Survey. Within one year, we already employed more than 40,000 artists and cultural works throughout the United States. Federal One different from other government efforts, the leaders of WPA tried to break new ground with the federal government’s support. The works and arts developed under this project served the public goals. Enough about the little stories about the Project One, now let’s go back to the great and ambitious WPA. It is believed to provide paid jobs to three million unemployed men, women, and youth. We usually cooperated with the state and local government, where they usually provide 10-30% of the total costs. To be honest, the local sponsors were very willing to provide and, trucks, and supplies. WPA holds responsibility for the salaries paid for supervisors and wages paid to the people. We built the infrastructure for the communities like roads, bridges, schools, courthouses, hospitals, waterworks, and post-offices. To demonstrate, the Griffith Observatory and Timberline Lodge were built under the WPA. Some of my programs terminated since the World War Two started, some of my programs successfully became component of the permanent government system permanently like the Social Security system. Before the Great Depression, family, local, and state government assumed the responsibility to take care the elderly in the home, federal government doesn’t play a role with the elderly. The Great Depression strengthened the problems for the elderly. As a response, I asked the Congress to setup an insurance system for these people. The program does not only support the old people, it also provided support to help elderly, dependent and crippled children, blind persons, the unemployed people, public health program, and even some vocational training.

In my opinion, there is no doubt that Franklin Delano Roosevelt should have a higher rating. In the US modern history, he made significant changes to the government system and mechanism. During his presidency, he started minority programs, broke the tradition to use radio, put female in the cabinet. Among all of his achievement, the most outstanding one is guide the United Stated made it through the Great Depression by New Deal: Relief, Reform, and Recovery. He signed a number of acts and legislations to reduce the negative effects brought by the Great Depression. He changed the government’s system and many of his deal were still in use such as the Social Security Act.